This writer agrees leadership can be taught and learned in certain situations. Far too often, individuals are forced into leading others. The author related to her own inexperience and placement as charge nurse due to staffing issues. The American Nurse Today list nine principles for successful leadership. The first principle states a leader must have a passion and commitment to their purpose (ANA). Additionally, the ANA states a leader must know in their heart he or she is in the correct position to share their skills and talents. Obviously this author has taken an important step in being an effective leader by pursuing her education.…
Nurses are known as patient advocates. In advocating for their patients, nurses strive for what is best in their patient’s care. Since nurses will be…
It is interesting how the media has portrayed nurses for years. Years ago the image was of a blonde, skinny female in a sexy white outfit that waits on her male only patient hand and foot. She is there to give him a sponge bath and feed him even thou it is only his leg that is broken but hands work just fine. Now that image has changed because of shows like Nurse Jackie. This HBO show is about a nurse who struggles to juggle her hectic life as a nurse at a New York City hospital. It’s based on her everyday tussles with physician other nurses and her drug addiction. Even though the show has questionable ethical circumstances it undoubtedly shows her compassionate caring nature. “Jackie is smart, caring, respected by her peers and a vigilant advocate for her patients” (Sorrell 2009). However, due to Nurse Jackie’s questionable ethical practices many nursing organizations feel that this portrayal hurts the image of nurses and hinders them from recruitment, retention, and allocation (Nemeth 2011). In which many organization have fought to refocus the community and general public’s attention on what good nursing incorporates. An organization of nurses, named The Truth about Nursing, has given awards to shows for best and worst portrayal of nursing in order to steer Hollywood to more appropriately depict nurses. Unfortunately, chaos in the media sells and I don’t believe that will change. However I am glad to see that, even thou the negative aspect of nursing as a profession are portrayed, nurses are being viewed now as compassionate, caring, smart individuals who are strong patient advocates rather than the sexy blonde who…
During my service in the United States Army, my insignia for the Medical Corps was “Care with Compassion.” I believe this holds true for nursing today. Nurses provide the highest quality of care achievable with compassion for the client. A nurse must be culturally sensitive, promote health, and apply knowledge of new sciences to their profession (Catalano, 2009). A nurse must have knowledge in many areas such as Psychology, Science, Ethics, Culture, Religion, Education, and Critical Thinking. Because of this knowledge, the emotional demands of nurses are much more than the physical demands (Catalano, 2009).…
The practice of nursing has changed throughout the years since the beginning when Florence Nightingale defined modern nursing. As a professional nurse, we must show competent and skillful behaviors when providing care for our patients. We must practice with dignity, honor, and the desire to relieve and prevent suffering. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how the concepts of teaching and learning, management, communication, and leadership will change and evolve throughout our career as professional nurses. We each can make an impact on each patient that we come into contact with throughout our career by practicing professionally and putting our patients priority’s first.…
Not only transforming health care facilities round the globe, a nurse makes a difference to people’s lives. The moments of interaction may be as short as a visit to ‘Emergency’ or may be as long as helping someone to struggle with their disability and rehabilitation. The positive vibes and their unconditional love touch their…
Values and ethics play a huge role in the nursing practice. Nursing care involves preventing illness and its complications, promotion or health restoration, and reducing suffering in the terminally ill. Nurses use their technical skills, qualities such as compassion, humanitarian service and duty, and efficient decision making in meeting the needs of their patients, families, and communities. An important part of nursing is ensuring the safety and the rights of patients. Vigilance of nurses is necessary in order to avoid unwanted and unnecessary treatments that lead to patient suffering. Nurses and other health…
just family or individual caregiver problems, they are population level and public health concerns. Philosophical imperative to protect children The Nursing profession has a strong historical foundation in social justice. Social justice is a concept that has been analyzed, argued and debated about for decades in the nursing literature, but there seems to be relative agreement that nursing has demonstrated a commitment to addressing the social determinants of health, to advocating for the underserved and the vulnerable, and for being able to promote the common good while respecting individual freedoms (McMurry, Hunter-Revell, & Roy, 2009). In her article, Megan-Jane Johnstone states that, “the nursing profession has had a longstanding commitment to social…
Perhaps one the most respected professions on this planet is certainly being a nurse, of any kind, whether you are a Licensed Vocational Nurse, Registered Nurse or a Nursing Assistant, the amount of adoration that follows those jobs around is obvious to most. But one of the better kept details of the downside of being a nurse are often mocked as mistreatment from doctors and administration who belittle them hilariously on TV or patients who are cranky old men who don’t want to take their medication that the nurse had to bend over backwards to get despite it being regular Tylenol.…
When patient care is missed, errors in care are made. Nurses are overworked, stressed and not making the most efficient decisions for their patients in understaffed environments. There is an ethical and moral responsibility to provide optimal care for patients in any setting. Patients deserve better care than they are offered from an over worked and over stressed nurse. When increasing patient load and failing to accommodate a safe staffing protocol, hospitals become negligent. Negligent care leads to hospital acquired infections, medication errors, and even death. Dorthea Orem, nursing theorist, based importance on a Self Care Model, that applies to nurses too. A nurse cannot appropriately care for more patients than safely feasible, as well as worrying about carrying for herself. Instances of nurses unable to use the restroom for hours at a time due to patient care needs. It is unintelligent way of thinking to be confident that a nurse, who has not been taking care their self, is able to properly care for their patients to the best of their ability. Florence Nightingale saw an error in the nursing practice and demanded change. Her changes revolutionized nursing and nursing education. She saw that patient care was lacking due to conditions and lack of education. This unsafe practice of increased patient load is causing patient care to…
good health is a challenge-affected by age, cultural background, physical, and intellectual capacities, and emotional balance is the individuals ability to meet these needs…
Nursing is an art and a skill that involves caring for people who are disadvantaged by virtue of being in poor physical, mental, social, or even spiritual health. The aim of nursing is to promote health through a variety of different interventions, but mainly involves the use of medical interventions in contrast to holistic interventions. Nursing also has a history of operating within the biomedical model, which focuses mainly on the illness and not the individual (Oberle & Bouchal, 2009). Because of the use of the biomedical model and lack of holistic care, some patients who visit hospitals are treated differently or poorly due to a failure of nurses to recognize the things that impact the patient’s health that are outside of the patient’s…
As far back as 1932, Hollywood in its film “A farewell to Arms” depicted nursing as having no security and autonomy. The chief nurse in the film was shown as being weak, helpless and reluctant to fight for a nurse who was dismissed because a surgeon believed that she was a distraction to his ambulance driver. In other words, physicians dictate what happens in nursing. With that coward perspective, many nurses entered into the profession answering ‘yes doctor’ to all orders without any question. Nurses are then at the receiving end of Doctors’ and patients’ bullying.…
A career in nursing allows an individual to seek out many opportunities and identify an area or specialty that they feel corresponds with their personality, culture, lifestyle and work ethic. The potential occupations for a nurse are limitless. In this discussion, the phrase gerontological nurse will be identified and what gerontological nursing means to myself will be described. I will go on to explain my view on why so few students prefer gerontological nursing as a specialty. Finally, suggestions on how to increase attention to this area of nursing will be illustrated.…
In this report I will explain and describe two Health Care professions. The two health care professions that I have chosen to write about are Practice Nurses and General Practitioners. This report will include the training and registration of the two professions. I will also provide general information and purpose of each of the professions Codes of Conduct. Another subject I will touch on is the Ethical issues for the workers, thus affecting the duty of care given. Throughout this report I will explain personal boundaries that these Health Care professions must abide by and how accountable they are for their actions. I will also explain how their multi-disciplinary system works and the role of professional supervision. I will create a good understanding of the limitations and accountabilities that these professionals have. At the end of this report I will compare the two professions and summarise the main body of the report into a conclusion.…